16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

K.J.V. Bible Text

My Thoughts:

Now free to return to the land of his father, Jacob began to pray to the God of his father. He thanked God humbly for the kindness and faithfulness God had shown him since he left home with nothing but his staff. Now he was returning with great wealth—with so many animals and people that they comprised two encampments.

Then Jacob prayed for protection from his brother. Having left the land of his father in fear for his life after having tricked Esau out of his birthright and having stolen from him their father’s blessing, he had good reason to fear that Esau might yet seek revenge against him.

Therefore he put together a lavish gift for his brother. The gift consisted of herds of goats, male and female and of ewes and rams. There were thirty female camels and their young, forty cows and ten bulls and thirty donkeys. These he sent ahead of his encampment with servants.

This gift to his brother brings home to me the immensity of Jacob’s wealth. No wonder Laban had sought to prevent him from leaving. The herds of animals mentioned here would constitute great wealth even today—and this was only a portion of his holdings, the portion he was preparing to give away as a gift. Imagine owning all those animals and apparently also having the wherewithal to feed them and servants to take care of them—servants that would have to be fed and cared for as well. Such wealth is mind-boggling.